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Grant could make pool dreams reality ELI MILEUR Daily Egyptian Carbondale could get a new aquatics center after years of effort thanks to a recent multimilliondollar grant from the state. “Our work is really cut out for us now ... to move it forward from a piece of paper idea to reality,� said Sally Wright, chair of the aquatics center citizen’s advisory committee to the Carbondale Park District. The Park District was awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Oct. 3 to construct an outdoor aquatics center. State Representative Mike Bost said he told Park District Executive Director Kathy Renfro about the grant. “I couldn’t get my head around it,� Renfro said. Bost said the money came from the federal government and was distributed by the state. Wright said the grant covers half the projected $5 million project, which has been developed over several years by the aquatics center committee in collaboration with the Park District. The grant is the only money raised so far, she said. The plan is to construct the center at the Superblock facility on land the Park District already owns, which will eliminate the cost of buying a site, Renfro said. The current plan calls for two bodies of water. One would be a rectangular pool with a diving well. The other would include zero-depth entry, two water slides and a lazy river, Wright said. Adjusting the plans to fit a budget is always an option, she said. A timetable for construction has not yet been developed, she said. The committee looked at many other cities and
their pools to figure out what features to include, said Lee Fronabarger, member of the committee and City Council. The Park District assisted the committee by surveying residents on their interest in an aquatic center, he said. The committee that drew up the plan grew out of study circles organized by the city in 2003, Wright said. The circles consisted of groups of Carbondale residents that discussed how to improve community relations, she said. She said all the groups came to the same conclusion: An outdoor swimming pool, which Carbondale has never had, would help community relations. “Water is the great equalizer,� she said. “When you take a group of people and put them in a pool and everybody’s just wearing their bathing suit, you can’t tell what their economic status is. We all float the same.� Wright said the city received a grant in the ‘70s to build a pool but lost it due to conflicts over where to build it. She said there were nonnegotiable stipulations in the grant about where the pool would go, but the city failed to reach an agreement on location. Past efforts to build outdoor pools, including an ill-fated plan for three separate pools, may have been derailed by racial tensions, Fronabarger said. Park District Chairman Harvey Welch said he’s lived in Carbondale since 1975 and though there’s some racial tension, he’s seen an improvement in racial attitudes. “I’ve watched a lot of change in the racial climate in Carbondale,� he said. Please see GRANT | 3
NATHAN HOEFERT | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Rose Hogan, left, of Cobden, Hyrum Robinson, center, 4, of Murphysboro, and Matthew Robinson, right, 6, of Murphysboro, participate in face painting Saturday at the Cobden ColorFest. This year’s ColorFest was held COBDEN COLORFEST GETS CREATIVE
at Cobden Community Park and included face and pumpkin painting, art and craft vendors, food and live music featuring Poison Siouxmac, Rog and Bob, Parsley and Sagebrush, and Free Range Chicks.
Community rocks out for autism center Parents of children with autism organize fundraisers to keep center open after budget cuts SARAH SCHNEIDER Daily Egyptian As her five-and-a-half-year-old son ran around a table, asking for a toy car being raffled, Becky Lewis said she is overjoyed because her son Wyatt now asks for things in short sentences. Lewis, of Herrin, has taken her son to the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Carbondale at the Wham Building since June. At the center, staff work with him on his speaking issues. She said in the short time he has been going she has seen a change. “He talks to us a lot, trying to tell us things he understands and wanting us to know he knows what this is and what that is,� she said. Brandy Girtman, of Jonesboro, also takes her daughter to the center for therapy. She organized a fundraiser for the center Sunday called Rockin’ Out to Knock Out Autism at the Great Boars of Fire in Cobden. All proceeds of the event — which featured two bands, food, bounce houses and raffled baskets — will go to the center. Girtman, of Jonesboro, works at the restaurant and organized the event, for which everything was a donation. Kirsten Schaper, clinical director at the center and senior lecturer at the Rehabilitation Institute, said during the past five years state funding for the center has been cut by almost $150,000, so fundraisers are necessary. She said the center runs on an annual $400,000 grant and receives minimal support from the university. “Under the previous administration, we were held up as a signature program and we
LYNNETTE OOSTMEYER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Wyatt Lewis, center, 5, of Herrin, plays in a bounce house with other children Sunday at the Rockin’ Out to Knock Out Autism fundraiser at Great Boars of Fire in Cobden. Wyatt’s mother, Becky Lewis, said he was always afraid of bounce houses, but when they got to the fundraiser and saw them he was excited. “You never know with him. Every day is a different experience,â€? Becky said. Wyatt was diagnosed with autism, and now attends sessions at the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at SIU. “For all of his issues, he is still just a young boy,â€? Becky said. were promoted as a way to attract students,â€? she said. “Under the current administration ‌ they let us use the room and they turn on the lights.â€? The center works with three different areas: training graduate students, providing direct services and research, Schaper said. She said 26 graduate students work at the center and are trained to work with the children. They provide therapy in the center but also work directly with four school districts. She said the center is the only autism center in the southern region of the state and covers the bottom 32 counties. She said the center focuses on research of teaching methods and how to effectively teach graduate assistants to work with the children. “If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism. They are all completely different,â€? she said. There are different levels of functioning in autism, she said, because it is a spectrum
disorder that reflects the changes they go through in their life. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, autism is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. The institute estimates that six out of every 1,000 children will have autism. “We may see a child at two and think the child is severely autistic but then in a couple of years they are getting an education and have friends,� she said. Jessie Loverude, a senior from Carbondale studying communication disorders and science, said after working at the center for a year she wants to work somewhere just like it after she graduates. Please see FUNDRAISER | 3